Improvement in brooms



"Ulvr'IED STATES "-JPATENT @GFF-ICE' JOHN F. LEE, JR., OF BROOKLYN,NEW'YORK, ASSIGNOR'TO CHARLES'F. LINDE, OF SME PLACE.

|MPRovE^MEN`T IN BRooMs.

lSpecification forming' part ofl Letters Patent No. lhS l 454, datedAugust 1876; application filed To all `whom t'may concern:

Be it'known that` I,-JoHN F. LEE, Jr., of Brooklyn, in thev county ofKings and State of New York, have invented certain Improvements inBrooms, of lwhich the following is a specification z The invention whichI am about to describe 'relates to thatclass of brooms which, instead'chiefly onaccount ofthe difficulty of securingl sufficient strength inthe wood socketlwithout making the head of the broom inadin-issiblylarge, the difficulty of securing the brush of the broom to thewoodsocket, and the diffifculty ofv securing the socket itself frombeing driven too far into the brush of vthe broom when considerableforce or percussion is'applied in the insertion of the handle. The' useof the sheet-metalsocket, however, involves J not only the additionalcost lover rand above the wood socket, but the more serious diiicultythat, in making the broom, the workman is obliged, in cutting oi' thecorn, to cut down upon the metal socket, which speedily dulls the knife,and requires it to befrequently sharpened, thus greatly'retardin'g thework, and thereby increasing theV vcost ofmanufacture.

The object of my present invention isto ob-v viate each of thesedifficulties, and to furnish a broom having a wood socket, which broomshall be at once simple and easy of construction, cheap, and reliable inall the particulars hereinbefore alludedv to. v

One part of the.v said invention. consists in the mode hereinafterdescribed of constructingt-he broom with an internally-tapering socketto receive the handle, whereby' such construction is much facilitated,and made entirely practicable and easy of accomplishment, and by whichmode of constructionv a broom with a wooden socket, tapering on the'inside to receive the handle, and of considerably greater thickness inits lower lportion than at its upper-end,so vas `tosecure'sufi- December22, 1875.

in the mode hereinafterdescribed of securing the socket from beingdriven too far into the broom. I

Another part of the said invention'consists Vin the combination of thesaid socket, the head of the broom, "a 'cap surrounding the head ofthebroom, a-nd fastenings extending through the headof the broom to unitethe parts 'with each other.

Figure l is a side viewof the upper portion of the brush of 'a broomconstructedaccording to the said invention, `without a cap around thehead of the broom. Fig. 2 isla transverse" verticalsectionof the same.Fig. 3 is a sidejview of the same constructed with a metal cap aroundthe head 'of the broom. Fig. 4 is a' vertical central fsectionofthesocket.

A' is the brush of the broom, which, with the exceptions I am about todescriba-'is constructed in thel manner commonly practiced. p

'diameter of thesocket, bored longitudinally through its center, and,having secured this stick in position for working, commences theformation of the brush of the broom inexactly thev same manner nowordinarily practiced in forming the brush of a broom upon ahandle,"carebeing taken, however, inI fastening the inner end of the binding-wire tothe sock; et,not 'to use a tack'of sufficient length to ex- .outsidecoils of the binding-wire, and, having secured its end by turning itdown over the coil, as shown in Fig. 1, I extend it up either through oroutside of `the broom-corn, under the upper coil of wire, and secure theupper end of the binding-wire to it by interlocking their ends, as shownin the same figure, preferably by twisting the ends of the two wirestogether.

The securing of the binding-wire by means of this auxiliary wire b is animportant feature y of this invention, owing to the very great dinicultyof securing it to the wooden socket, the latter being too thin at thetop when finished to allow the upper end of the wire to be secured to itby a tack, as usually practiced in making brooms upon a handle.

The broom having been thus far constructed, and the surplus corn at thehead of the broom out away, the socket or cylindrical piece of wood onwhich the brush is formed `is then cut off even with the head of thebroom,if no cap is to be used, or, if a cap is to be used, then of theproper length to reach thetop of the cap, and the cap, if any, be- 1n gplaced in position and temporarily secured there, and the brush soformed being properly secured in a chuck or holding device, the socketis then bored or reamed out, as the case may be, with a tapering bit orreamer, to form the proper conical socket for the reception of the endof the handle, which is made tapering to correspond with it. The socketof the broom is then slipped upon a metallic mandrel, preferablyhardened steel, made conical to fit the said socket, and small nails ortacks c are driven in through corn and socket, (and the cap, if; any,)and clinched upon the said mandrel, as shown in Fig. 2, when the brushof the broom is complete and ready for the reception of the handle whenrequired. Any number of these nails c that may be desirable may be used;but twoone on each side-driven in the lower part of the broomhead, asshown, will generally be found sufficient. V

A cap, G, while adding slightly to the cost, also adds strength and nishto the broomhead. It aids in holding the outer portions of the nails o,and, combined with the otherparts by means of the said nails extendingthrough the corn of the broom-head, helps to hold the socket B rmly inposition, and prevent its being driven in out of place by theapplication of force applied in the insertion of the handle.

`Any form of cap adapted to the purpose may be used.

e It may be, and often is, desirable to secure the handlemorepermanently in the socket, and more e'ectuallypreventits beingworked loose by the vibratory motions to which it is subjected in usethan would be done by simply pushing or driving it into place; and thisI provide for by coating the end of the broomhandle where it ts into thesocket, or isto enter the socket, with a soluble adhesive substance,which, when the broom-handle is to be inserted, may be sufficientlysoftened by dipping it in water to make it adhere to the sides of thesocket. Glue, lor a mixture of 4 glue and gum, may be used for thispurpose; but I iind by experiment that gum-arabic answers everyrequisite, and I prefer it for the reasons that it is more convenient ofapplication, and more readily softened by dipping it in water than acoating composed in whole or in part of glue. Dextrine would alsoprobably answer the same purpose.

While I consider the construction above described the most feasible andsatisfactory o n the whole, such construction may nevertheless be variedsomewhat without departing from the said invention-as, for example, thesocket B, instead of being .made exactly cylindrical on the outside,might be enlarged toward its base, so as to give still greater thick`ness at or near the lower end; or the Wirezb, instead of being extendeddirectly upward from the coils below of the binding-wire to the topcoil, might be run spirally through and around the corn of thebroom-head, so as to meet said upper coil running in nearly or quite an`opposite direction; or it might be so carried round and through thebroom-head, and made to form the top coil, and the wire a used to fastenit, without changing the nature of this part of the invention.

It is important, and perhaps indispensable to the success of themanufacture of brooms with the internally-tapering wood sockets which Ihave described, that the stick of which the socket is formed shouldextend sufficiently from the head of the broom to allow its being firmlyheld in a proper lathe or clamp while the broom is being formed upon it,and` have sufficient strength to resist the strain thrown upon it in theformation of the broom, which can hardly be realized if each socket werefirst made separately and properly reamed out to'receive the handlebefore the brush was formed upon it, the socket being then too thin atand 'beyond the top of the broom-head to be so held and to withstand thenecessary strain; and for this reason the `mode I have described of irstforming the `brush of the `broom upon a solid stick, or a stick having acylindrical bore of less diameter than the largest internal diameter ofthe socket when finished, and then, after the brush of the broom ismade, reaming or boring out the conical socket, is important.

I claim as my invention- 1. The mode hereinbefore described ofconstructing the broom` with an internally-tapering socket, by firstforming the brush of the broom upon the stick of which the socket is tobe formed, and afterward boring or reaming the socket to the size andtaper required, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

2. The combination, with the brush of a brooml and its binding-Wire a,of the fastening-Wire b, the ends of' the Wires being interlocked witheach other, substantiallT as hereinbefore set forth.

3. The combination, with the brush of a broom and the conical socket, ofthe nails or tacks, 0r their equivalent, extending through one side ofthe head of the broom, and through onewside of the socket, and clinchedon their inner ends, substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

. 4. The combiuation of thebrush ofthe broom, the conical socket B, andthe cap secured to said socket by one or more tacks, or theirequivalent, extending through one side of the saidv cap, through oneside of the head of the broom, and through one side of said socket,substantially as hereinbefore set forth.

JOHN F. LEE, JR. Witnesses:

CHAs. F. LINDE, Trios. P. HOW.

